Governor Brown Signs Opportunity Zone Transparency Law

Monday, September 17, 2018

Sacramento – AB 1445 by Assemblymember Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino) was signed into law by Governor Brown. The bill requires that a city or county that is selling or leasing property to a qualified Opportunity Fund must post details about the investment and its proposed benefits on the city or county’s website. The required information includes 1) a timeline for the completion of the investment activity on the property, 2) The estimated number of jobs that will be created, and 3) a summary of the workforce utilization strategies that will be used as part of the investment. Federal Opportunity Zones were created by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which passed Congress in December 2017 to address poverty in low income areas, specifically through the establishment of opportunity funds.

“Opportunity Zones present the tremendous ability to increase investments into the revitalization of economically distressed communities,” said Assemblymember Reyes. “AB 1445 increases transparency related to Opportunity Zone investments by requiring disclosure of how the proposed investment will create jobs and provide other community benefits. It is important that the public has access to the details of these investments when they involve public property.”

The Opportunity Zone program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into opportunity funds that are dedicated to investing into opportunity zones designated by the chief executives of every U.S. state and territory. It is widely understood that there is an estimated $2 trillion in capital gains that have not been realized, therefore, they were never taxed and having little to no impact on job creation or uplifting economically distressed communities. Assembly District 47, which includes the cities of Fontana, Rialto, Colton, Grand Terrace, San Bernardino and the Unincorporated areas of Muscoy and Bloomington has 21 qualified designated opportunity zones.

For more information on AB 1445 or to read the language of the bill, click here.

Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes represents Assembly District 47 which includes the cities of Fontana, Rialto, Colton, Grand Terrace, San Bernardino and the unincorporated areas of Muscoy and Bloomington.